Nova Scotia S Historic Inland Communities

Narrative, photo-filled historical guide to Nova Scotia's inland communities from author of Nova Scotia's Historic Harbours and Nova Scotia's Lost Communities.

Stories and photos that bring the people and places of Nova Scotia’s historic past to life. Beaubassin was once a prosperous farming community at the head of the Cumberland Basin; Africville was the vibrant home of Black Nova Scotians who struggled to make a living and found spiritual solace in their church. Both are now gone, one a casualty of long-ago colonial warfare and the other a victim of misguided urban renewal. In this fascinating book, author Joan Dawson looks at thirty-seven of this Canadian province’s lost communities: places like Electric City, Indian Gardens, and the Tancook Islands. Some were home to ethnic groups forced to leave. Others, once dependent on factories, mills, or the fishery, died as the economy changed or resources were depleted. But they were all once places where Nova Scotians were born, married, worked, and died. Featuring over 60 archival and contemporary photos and illustrations, Nova Scotia’s Lost Communities preserves those memories with fascinating insights.

A local historian explores the rich history of this rugged Canadian coastline with fascinating research and twenty-five historical photos. The beautiful harbours of Nova Scotia take many forms. Some are broad and studded with islands, while others are long inlets carved out by glaciers. Prized by the indigenous Mi’kmaq people as well as European settlers, they contain fascinating tales from the Age of Sail the American Revolution, the Golden Age of Piracy, and much more. Featuring profiles of more than fifty harbours—from the Bedford Basin to Shelburne Harbour to Cobequid Bay, Louisbourg, and Canso—Nova Scotia’s Historic Harbours explores each harbour’s historical significance. Local historian Joan Dawson shows how these communities have been shaped by the sea, and how Nova Scotia’s growth has been driven by its wealth of harbours.

While Nova Scotia may be known as “Canada's Ocean Playground,” the tributaries and meandering streams that flow through the province have a significance that runs just as deeply. In Nova Scotia's Historic Rivers, Joan Dawson takes us on an insightful expedition around the province. From the original portage routes of the Mi'kmaq, such as the Margaree and Shubenacadie Rivers; to shipbuilding, logging, and mill-based industries along the LaHave and Sackville Rivers; to the settlers and communities that flourished along their banks, Dawson demonstrates the myriad ways in which Nova Scotia's rivers have always been imperative to the sustenance and survival of the province. Featuring over 50 archival and contemporary photographs and illustrations, Nova Scotia's Historic Rivers is a fascinating glimpse into the settlement an development of the province, and the ever-evolving rivers that continue to shape its landscape and culture.

At the Ocean’s Edge offers a vibrant account of Nova Scotia’s colonial history, situating it in an early and dramatic chapter in the expansion of Europe. Between 1450 and 1850, various processes – sometimes violent, often judicial, rarely conclusive – transferred power first from Indigenous societies to the French and British empires, and then to European settlers and their descendants who claimed the land as their own. This book not only brings Nova Scotia’s struggles into sharp focus but also unpacks the intellectual and social values that took root in the region. By the time that Nova Scotia became a province of the Dominion of Canada in 1867, its multicultural peoples, including Mi’kmaq, Acadian, African, and British, had come to a grudging, unequal, and often contested accommodation among themselves. Written in accessible and spirited prose, the narrative follows larger trends through the experiences of colourful individuals who grappled with expulsion, genocide, and war to establish the institutions, relationships, and values that still shape Nova Scotia’s identity.